Fall Travels in Italy

The beautiful town of Locorotondo is typical of hill-top, white-washed building, found in Puglia.

photo: mytravellinglens.com

Marche, Umbria, Puglia, Compania, Lazio - This is Italy

We land in Rome, spend time in Nola, just outside of Naples and then drive to Puglia, Marche, Umbria and Lazio (Rome). These are some of the best areas of Italy. Last year we found Rome had too many tourists. Given the protests that have taken place in Spain this year, we hope we do not end of up areas of anger. But in all our areas, with the exception of Rome, should be areas where tourism has not totally taken over the local scene.

But even smaller towns are struggling with tourists. Last year in Bari, tour groups made walking the small strees of Bari vecchio difficult. Hardly room for three or so people to walk and talk. Enter a group of 30 plus people following a guide and there is simpply not the capacity. Residents were yelling at the tour group saying they were going to call the police! Yes a limit on the size of tour groups, such as in Venezia, would be a good thing.

• Compania - we started with time in Nola, near Napoli. So much Roman history in this area and yes, a town not talked about by the tourist industry. Click here for more.

• Puglia - In Puglia we stayed at the Villa Siena, located between Caronigna and San Vito dei Normanni in the Region of Puglia. Having an entire house felt great. Although the weather was cooler than normal we enjoyed using out pool, just steps out of our house. Click here for more.

• Marche - almost two decades since we spent time in the Marche Region. It was a long drive from Puglia, taking well over six hours as we got stuck in a traffic snarl resulting from an accident on the Autoloader. We stayed in the hamlet of Villagrande, located just outside the medieval walled town of Barometric. It was good to return to the Marche and the scenery was fabulous.Looking forward to returning. Click here for more.

• Umbria - We were able to stop in Gubbio on the way, had a great piazza, and also stopped by La Panoramica Gubbio. We have stayed here a number of times and it was good to say hello. Our apartment at the Fonte Sala, near the town of Montefalco, was a return to one of our homes! It was October, the vineyards were all changing colour, it was all very scenic. staying near Montefalco - scenic with interesting small towns and old castles. Click here for more.

• Lazio - - from Umbria we drive to Rome for a short visit. We cut back was is normally a week in Rome to five days. Yes it was busy. But by avoiding all the A-List tourist locations, I enjoyed my time in Rome.  Click here for more.